To evaluate the effect of mint gum flavor and chewing behavior on reducing motion sickness, 47 healthy adult subjects were evaluated for subjective sickness during a 20-minute minibus ride with or without mint gum chewing. As a result, subjective sickness was significantly reduced in the mint gum chewing condition. In addition, the SSQ （Simulator Sickness Questionnaire） before and after the ride showed significant differences in oculomotor, disorientation, and total score.

In Japan, female employees in the hospitality industry are often required to wear makeup. In this study, we experimentally examined whether customers would feel uncomfortable if waitresses in restaurants did not wear makeup. The participants were shown video clips of waitresses serving customers, and were asked to evaluate their impressions. To make it difficult for participants to know the study’s true purpose, we also added a facial expression condition （smiling/straight face） and asked them to evaluate multiple waitresses. The results showed that smiling clearly improved participants’ impressions regardless of their gender, but makeup had little effect. In addition, there was no effect of makeup on the evaluation of impressions even among those who noticed the experimental manipulation of make-up （13 participants）, as well as those who did not notice it （29 participants）. We believe that the results of this study will be one of the materials for discussing the pros and cons of the makeup requirement for women in the future.

In recent years, bicycles have gained significant importance as a primary mode of daily transportation in urban areas of Japan. However, child-carrying bicycles present a potential risk of dangerous accidents, particularly due to falls. To address this concern, our study focused on developing a child-carrying bicycle that incorporates a novel method for adjusting the height of the child’s riding position, aiming to reduce the impact during falls. This was achieved by introducing smaller rear wheels and lowering the position of the child seat, while also incorporating a roll cage to ensure the child’s safety. Through experiment and evaluation, our concept demonstrated a higher level of safety for the child when compared to conventional child-carrying bicycles.

This study investigated the effect of push-off facilitation by protrusions attached to the insole tip （PRT insole） on lower limb joint range of motion （ROMs） and step length （SL） during brisk gait. Sixteen healthy males performed treadmill walking under three different conditions: CONTROL walked as usual, INST was instructed to extend SL with an enhancing push-off at the terminal stance phase, and PRT was asked to extend SL while attempting to step on protrusions of PRT insoles. A 3D-motion capture system with infrared cameras was used to analyze the gait. In the INST condition, the hip and ankle ROMs and SL increased only during push-off attention. In the PRT condition, although the hip joint ROM increased only during the use of PRT insoles, the ankle joint ROM and SL increased significantly during and immediately after the use of the insoles compared to before use. This increase in ROM may be due to increased plantar flexion during the terminal stance phase. Therefore, the present results suggest that the PRT insole may be used to extend SL by enhancement of push-off during warm-up exercises, and that the effect of SL extension may remain even without the insole during subsequent exercises.

This study aims to investigate the effect of wearing walking shoes with different center-of-gravity positions on gait in adult males. For this, 19 adult males were asked to wear shoes with three different center-of-gravity positions （toe-, central-, and heel-weighted） and walk on a 9 m-walking path, and the foot clearance, floor reaction force, lower limb joint angle, and lower limb joint moment were calculated. The results revealed that the knee joint moments during the loading response phase were considerably smaller in the heel condition than in the toe and central conditions. The vertical floor reaction force during the loading response phase （the vertical peak 1 of the floor reaction force） was considerably smaller in the central and heel conditions than in the toe condition. The knee joint angle during the initial swing phase and the hip joint angle during the mid-swing phase were considerably smaller in the central condition than in the toe condition. These results suggested that knee and hip flexion should be increased in the toe condition to ensure clearance during the swing phase. Furthermore, the heel rocker function was observed to be stable during the load response phase under heel conditions.